Court blocks federal funds for border wall in parts of California, New Mexico

This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A federal judge in California blocked the Trump administration on Friday from using $2.5 billion in federal funds for a border wall in portions of California and New Mexico.

According to a news release from California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, the US District Court for Northern California ruled in favor of a challenge to President Donald Trump’s attempt to move billions from the Defense Department budget toward building a border wall in El Centro, California, and New Mexico. Trump’s move was done as part of his national emergency declaration in February.

Becerra celebrated the ruling, which he said permanently stops the administration from proceeding with construction on the wall.

“These rulings critically stop President Trump’s illegal money grab to divert $2.5 billion of unauthorized funding for his pet project,” Becerra said. “All President Trump has succeeded in building is a constitutional crisis, threatening immediate harm to our state. President Trump said he didn’t have to do this and that he would be unsuccessful in court. Today we proved that statement true.”